first of all her free ride to nationals isn't, she has to qualify.
2nd if you read at the bottom of the Baltimore Sun Page,
Michelle told the USFSA NOT to Leave Open a GPE assignment like skate america for her.
like me and a lot of people were thinking.
since sasha been out 3 years , it would do her good to go to qualifying to help her get back in tune with the national atmosphere. even though it is automatic,
with it being an olympic year and two spots (a pressure cooker) unlike 2006.

Lots of things make me happy! Especially snagging the front parking space in a crowded parking lot - it just makes my whole day (having the correct change at the cash register is right up there, too!) It doesn't take much to please me...

2nd if you read at the bottom of the Baltimore Sun Page,
Michelle told the USFSA NOT to Leave Open a GPE assignment like skate america for her.

I think it says that Michelle did not ask USFS for an invitation, as Sasha did. I don't think Michelle told them not to leave a spot open. (If she did tell them that, they did not do what she told them, because the spot is still open.)

Particle Man

Particle Man, you are most definitely the voice of reason on this board.

As much as I would love to see her, and I would, I don't want this to be a not so wonderful foot note to a splendid career. She needs to be able to do herself and her reputation justice. Otherwise, Tufts is a good alternative.

Off-topic but similar theme: I liked a quote (several actually) from "When Harry Met Sally."

Harry Burns: Had my dream again where I'm making love, and the Olympic judges are watching. I'd nailed the compulsories, so this is it, the finals. I got a 9.8 from the Canadians, a perfect 10 from the Americans, and my mother, disguised as an East German judge, gave me a 5.6. Must have been the dismount.

How deep was this "East vs West" judging ingrained in North American culture? And was it the same for our friends from the East?

How deep was this "East vs West" judging ingrained in North American culture? And was it the same for our friends from the East?

The Soviet sports apparatus had a string of bad luck in the late 1970s.

By 1976 the situation in figure skating judging had gotten so outrageous that all Soviet judges were banned from officiating at any ISU event for a year.

At the 1976 Olympics a Soviet fencer was caught using a rigged epee that would light up a false "touche" at the press of a concealed button. The Soviet Olympic Committee -- caught red-handed -- issued this statement:

Unfortunately Boris Ovcharenko was disqualified for using a sword that did not meet the requirements for international rules.

In 1977 the entire Romanian gymnastics team, including Olympic gold medallist Nadia Comanici, pulled out of the European championship because of biased Soviet judging. (The president of the International Gymnastics Federation was a well-known former Soviet champion.)

In March, 1980, challenger Victor Korchnoi, a Soviet defector, was to play Tigran Petrosian for the world chess championship. Five days before the match was to start, Soviet authorities arrested Korchnoi's son and sent him to prison in Siberia as a "particularly dangerous criminal."

I am not sure of the date, but at some point the IOC decided to implement sex tests to make sure that "female" athletes were really female. Soviet "sisters" Tamara and Irina Press, former Olympic gold medalists in track and field, instantly disappeared from public view, never again to be seen.

Is all this the unvarished truth or one-sided propoganda? Here is a book about it, written from an anti-Soviet point of view. (You can read it on line.)

since sasha been out 3 years , it would do her good to go to qualifying to help her get back in tune with the national atmosphere. even though it is automatic,with it being an olympic year and two spots (a pressure cooker) unlike 2006.

But Sasha has been skating in SOI for the past 3 years. It's not like she had surgery or anything outside of skating. Sasha is good skater and if she is spending time with Rafael to get a 3x3 she can be competitive. I don't rule her out. Also she knows what she is doing by skipping the preliminary comps.